Ukrainian Canadian Folklore: An Online Course By Robert B. Klymasz, Ph.D. Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies University of Manitoba, Winnipeg 2003-2004 Course description This course is introductory in nature and provides a survey of Ukrainian folklore and related traditions as they are either found in or relate to Canada. Trends and processes that have shaped the development of these traditions over a period of more than a century receive special attention. Various folkloric phenomena are explored to underline these formative mechanisms. With this kind of approach, the on-line student will come to understand that Ukrainian folklore in Canada constitutes a multifaceted configuration composed of elements drawn from various sources. Objectives to appreciate Canada's Ukrainian folklore complex, past and present to delineate the parameters that characterize this cultural phenomenon to understand the mechanics of continuity and change that have shaped this segment of Canada's folklore heritage Prerequisites There are no special requirements and no credits are offered. You are free to follow this course at your own pace as a form of independent learning. Nonetheless, it is important to note that the material is presented on an undergraduate, university level. Naturally, some knowledge of Ukrainian is an asset, but this is not a prerequisite. Assignments (twenty-two of them) and suggested readings are offered as discretionary adjuncts meant to complement the learning experience by providing additional insights and sources of further information. Many of these materials may be acquired for a nominal charge by contacting the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Course Outline The course is composed of seven parts plus an appendix, as follows: 1. Introduction to folklore, Ukrainian folklore, and Ukrainian Canadian folklore 2. The evolution of Ukrainian folklore and folkloristics in Canada 3.Kinds of oral Ukrainian lore and their features 4.Non-verbal manifestations of Ukrainian folkloric activity in Canada 5.Factors that have shaped the development of Ukrainian folklore in Canada 6.Ukrainian Canadian folklore in the 21st century 7. The impact of Ukrainian Canadian folklore on other forms of creativity in Canada Appendix: Additional readings in English, Audio-Visual Materials About the author Robert B. Klymasz has a Ph.D. Degree in Folklore from Indiana University. In a career that spans almost half a century, Dr. Klymasz has taught at several universities and authored many publications on aspects of Ukrainian Canadian folklore. Before retiring in 2000 he served as Curator heading the East European Program at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull (now Gatineau), Quebec. Dr. Klymasz is currently associated with the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Comments, questions or observations regarding this course are welcome and may be sent to Dr. Klymasz in care of the Centre. Acknowledgements The author acknowledges the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies without which this project would not have been possible. Dr. Denis Hlynka was responsible for initiating and directing this project. The author wishes to thank Dr. AndrijNahachewsky (Ukrainian Folklore Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton) for his assistance during the writing of this course. Part One: Introduction to folklore, Ukrainian folklore, and Ukrainian Canadian folklore Folklore is an English word adopted internationally by European romantics in the 18th century when songs and stories circulated orally by unlettered segments of society became widely appreciated as expressions of the human spirit in general and of a nation's "soul" in particular. Gradually, because of its numerous links to non-verbal human behavior, the term folklore mushroomed to include, for example, manifestations of folk music, folk art, folk dance, folk wisdom, folk medicine, and folk customs, rites and traditions. In recent times the "lore of the folk" has become popularized as a form of entertainment with professional practitioners performing at folk festivals and other events; and nowadays the term folklore is used more comprehensively to designate simply the traditions of a people. Folkloristics is a general term often used to designate the study of folklore (compare this with linguistics.) Allied disciplines include ethnography, ethnology, anthropology and ethnomusicology. As suggested above, other fields of study that have close links to folkloristics include history, literary studies, and art. Fluidity is a main characteristic of folklore. Ever since pre-historic times folksongs and folktales have circulated orally and freely. Each telling of the same story, for instance, is somehow different. And for this reason folklore does not conform to notions concerning any particular fixed, exact text: that is, the same folklore-item (song or story) can circulate in various versions. Although scholars have tried to trace and uncover the original version of particular folksongs and folktales, most of their findings have been tenuous. As a result, issues regarding copyright or "intellectual property" are generally inapplicable to true works of folklore. Suggested assignment no. 1 As an experiment in the dynamics of folklore, write down one of your favorite jokes. Where did you first hear it? Can you determine where and when it was first told? Who was the first person to ever tell it? (If your favorite joke is truly folkloric in nature your answers should be dubious, shaky and vague.) Besides the fluidity typical of all folklore, Ukrainian folklore is deeply rooted in the agrarian lifestyle that has constituted such a fundamental aspect of Ukrainian culture since pre-historic times. Mastery over nature through technology and mechanization, a characteristic of West European culture, came late to Ukraine. Consequently, raw nature, in the widest sense of that phrase, surfaces as a potent factor: that is, in Ukrainian folklore humans join with natural and supranatural forces to produce a landscape of the imagination that is filled with awe, beauty, and drama. A third characteristic, the cycle, serves as a major structural component in Ukrainian folklore. The cyclical nature of Ukrainian folkloric phenomena can be detected in an underlying predilection for regularity, recurrence or repetition, and predictability. This is richly evidenced by Ukrainian folksong cycles associated with the seasons or calendar (eg. koljadky and the winter folksong cycle) and with crucial moments in the lives of everyday folk (eg. the wedding folk cycle). Duality constitutes a fourth feature that is characteristic of Ukrainian folklore. This usually surfaces in the form of a set of contrasts between polar opposites such as male and female, spoken or sung, calendric / seasonal or not, solo or group performance, with instrumental accompaniment or not, and so on. For example, the traditional Ukrainian lullaby is a folksong (not folktale) sung (not spoken) as a solo (not as a group performance) by a female (not male) whenever (time of year is not relevant). In contrast, the Ukrainian historical epic (duma in Ukrainian) was almost always delivered as a solo by a male singer who often accompanied himself with a musical folk instrument (such as the bandura) before an appreciative audience. Like the lullaby (but unlike hajivky or Easter singing games, for instance), the epic too could be sung at any time. Such dualities or sets of contrastive factors combine with one another to provide a structural framework for Ukrainian folklore. It should be noted that, although the mechanisms cited above may be typical of many other folk traditions, Ukrainian folklore is the product of an experience that is unique unto itself. Similarly, Ukrainian folklore in Canada is not merely a duplicate copy of Old Country folklore. Suggested assignment no. 2 If the foregoing is true, why and in what ways would Ukrainian folklore in Canada differ from antecedents in the Old Country? Itemize your ideas and compare them with findings published on pages 122 to 129 in Robert B. Klymasz, Ukrainian Folklore in Canada (New York: Arno Press, 1980). Communality is a fifth essential aspect of folklore. Like speech, folklore is a living phenomenon that requires a particular kind of setting: one with a giver and a receiver -- a performer and an audience. Hence, it is necessary to distinguish folkloric phenomena from fixed or lifeless products like musical scores, histories, professional art, choreographies, novels and all other forms of written literature. These materials exist as independent products; they can be stored and shelved. And like some ancient scrolls, they can sometimes lay dormant for centuries without attracting anyone's attention until they are "discovered" as relics of the past. Relatively speaking, Ukrainian Canadian folklore is a young phenomenon with a start-date that coincides with the arrival of Canada's first groups of Ukrainian immigrants in 1891. (Some historians report that it is likely that at least some immigrants from Ukrainian lands reached Canada before this.) In this respect, Ukrainian folklore in Canada offers researchers a handy laboratory to test the stability of folkloric factors transplanted from abroad. According to available evidence, some folkloric genres failed to cross over from Ukraine into Canada while others survived the journey but only for a short time. Suggested assignment no. 3 In your opinion, what kinds of folklore